HUMBOLDT, Sask. – Ben MacSwain was the overtime hero just 35 seconds
into the extra period as the Woodstock Slammers advanced to the
championship game at the 2012 RBC Cup with a 4-3 semifinal win over the
Humboldt Broncos on Saturday afternoon.

The
victory makes the Slammers the first team from the Maritime Hockey
League to reach the final (Sunday, 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT, TSN2)
since the Halifax Oland Exports won the national title in 2002, and the
second East Region team in a row to play on the final Sunday – the
Pembroke Lumber Kings were RBC Cup champions last year.

MacSwain
found a loose puck in the Humboldt crease and flipped it past Broncos
netminder Matt Hrynkiw to complete Woodstock’s comeback from 2-0 and 3-2
deficits and make the Slammers the first team to reach their final in
their first-ever appearance at the national championship since the
Prince George Spruce Kings in 2007.

Tim Campbell scored twice and
Sam Caldwell had the other goal for Woodstock, which got all three of
its goals in regulation time from defencemen.

Down 2-0 early in
the second period, Campbell’s shot from the point hit a Humboldt player
on the way through and eluded Hrynkiw, and he tied the game just under
five minutes later on a Woodstock power play, streaking down the left
wing and going bar-down on Hrynkiw.

Logan Sproule restored
Humboldt’s lead late in the middle frame, but Caldwell tied it up 6:24
into the third, hammering home a point shot on another Slammers power
play, setting up MacSwain’s heroics.

Ryan Marshall and John
Lawrence scored the other two goals for the Broncos, both on first
period power plays. Humboldt, which finished atop the preliminary round
standings with a perfect 4-0 record, became the second host team in
four years to lose in overtime in the semifinals – the Broncos beat
Victoria 3-2 in 2009.

The Broncos’ loss extends the host team’s
championship to drought to seven years – the 2005 Weyburn Red Wings were
the last host team to hoist the RBC Cup on home ice.